Baptisms.

Congratulations to Amber of Rutabaga Dreams on her children’s baptism last weekend!  It wasn’t that long ago that she was musing about godparents and trying to decide whom to pick.

Some folks have a lot of trouble finding godparents — especially us converts who may not have very many friends or family members who are Catholics.  Is it okay to choose relatives?   How important is it that godparents be living the faith? Do you have to have two?  Is there anything that disqualifies a person from being a godparent?  Can all your children have the same godparents?  What’s the godparent supposed to do anyway?  I thought this article was helpful.

I know that lots of godparents do nice things like send cards on "name days" or baptismal anniversaries, give First Communion gifts, etc.  I’m a bit of a slacker in that department.  I think that the most important thing a godparent can do, aside from being a good role-model Catholic especially if he or she is visible in the child’s life,  is simple:  pray daily for the godchild.  I’m a godparent, and I try to stay committed to pray daily for my godchildren.  We are, for example, godparents to a lovely little boy the same age as our middle son (whose godparents are our godchild’s parents).  After his baptism we added his patron saint to our mealtime prayer litany so that we would always remember to pray for him as the years go by, even if someday his family should live far away from us.   

I still remember fondly each of my children’s baptisms.  (Yucky homily for MJ’s baptism excluded.)  I really ought to get in the habit of using their candles on special days — so far we’ve only gotten them out to show the older children once, on the day that Mary Jane was baptized.